Asia Pacific hedge fund news for March included:

The IO&C reported that there may be a decision soon on the Asian Funds Passport pilot proposal. The proposed Asia Pacific version of Europe's UCITS funds, an Asian Funds Passport, was given a positive airing at the annual ASIC Forum for industry participants.

Asian Investor reported that mainland Chinese fund firms have set their sights on Europe, seeking to break into the European institutional market and sell the China growth story, although fears over market volatility both domestically and in Europe around Cyprus points to short-term fundraising difficulty.

Marc Saluzzi, chairman of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry and partner for PwC's Luxembourg Financial Services practice, says he noticed an uptick in Chinese managers seeking advice on breaking into Europe in the second half of 2012.

Another story from Asian Investor revealed that LGT Capital Partners, the Switzerland-based alternative asset manager overseeing $25 billion, has launched a Beijing office, marking its first operation on the mainland. The Beijing office will be headed by Frankie Fang, who has been serving as LGT Capital's China representative since 2007. It is understood that LGT Capital will examine potential private equity deals in primary, secondary and co-investment opportunities on the mainland, with the Beijing office serving to research and monitor its investments.

EMERGING MARKETS

Institutional Investor reported that emerging markets were once seen as risky, but capital inflows - in particular from hedge funds - show how that mind set has changed. In the quarter ended December 2013, according to Chicago-based hedge data firm HFR, hedge fund capital invested in emerging markets rose $11.2 billion to a record $139 billion.

HONG KONG

Opalesque reported the "Report of the Survey on Hedge Fund Activities of SFC-licensed Managers/Advisers" shows that hedge fund assets under management (AUM) in Hong Kong increased 38% from the time of the last survey in September 2010 to US$87.1 billion as of 30 September 2012.

The Japanese FSA published a draft review of the short selling regulation.

KOREA

Asian Investor revealed that the
Korean National Pension Service $340 billion pension fund has set itself a long-term goal of opening offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai. However, for now it is focused on stabilising its other overseas bases.

Hedgeweek reported that Hyundai Securities Co Ltd is seeding capital to a new Singapore-based hedge fund, under the leadership of Dr Kim Hong-shik, a derivatives specialist who headed the Asian equity-linked products for ABN AMRO and was founding member at K3 Capital Management, a Singapore-based hedge fund.

This article was published in Opalesque's Asia Pacific Intelligence our monthly research update on alternative investments in the Asia-Pacific region.